Telling the Story of Fort Miles Through Art

Fort Miles Historical Association has worked closely with local artists and their families to acquire original and high-quality prints of paintings related to coastal defense and World War II generally.

On display inside Battery 519 at the Fort Miles Museum are original paintings and prints by Howard Schroeder, Paul Rendel and Abraxas. These pieces can be viewed in both the Art of Fort Miles Gallery honoring Howard Schroeder and the Visiting Artists Gallery.

Howard Schroeder was stationed at Fort Miles during World War II and served on the Mine Planting detail. He painted scenes of military life at Fort Miles prior to becoming a successful Lewes Delaware based commercial artist and driving force behind the formation of the Rehoboth Art League.

Paul Rendel is a Dover, Delaware based artist who has often been commissioned by the USAF to paint military aircraft. Mr. Rendel has won many awards for his depictions of military aircraft in flight and in battle. He has generously donated two original paintings of Fort Miles’ scenes to the Museum.

Abraxas is a well-known Lewes Delaware artist who has often painted the fire control towers located within the Fort Miles Historic Area and along the Delaware beaches. He is a successful commercial artist, who has a studio on 2nd Street in Lewes. Abraxas is frequently commissioned to paint portraits and local landscapes and has also produced and contributed several videos that appear on this website.

In addition to the original art that can be viewed at Battery 519, prints of paintings by Howard Schroeder, Paul Rendel, Abraxas and several other artists are available for purchase at the Museum.

The prints offered by FMHA of selected works of Howard Schroeder are exclusive to the Fort Miles Historical Association thanks to the generosity and support of his children.

The art featured in this article hangs in Fort Miles Museum’s main art gallery and is a work by generously donated by Dover, DE based artist, Paul Rendel. The painting is of a World War II B-25J bomber named “Panchito.” As described below, this particular aircraft has a long and diverse history dating back to a predecessor aircraft of the same name, which flew bombing missions over Japan as late as 1945.

The Artist:
Paul Rendel, professional artist and pilot, is known in art and museum circles as one of the world’s premier painters of military aircraft. His works have been featured at numerous art shows and hang in museums such as the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in Dayton Ohio and the Pensacola Naval Air Museum. Paul has been commissioned to paint for the USAF, as well as large corporations active in art, such as Heinz and Westinghouse. Fort Miles Museum houses the finest collection of Paul’s works of any museum worldwide.

The Panchito:
In this painting, Paul depicts Panchito flying low over the iconic towers used for artillery fire control (now known as observation towers) at Fort Miles during World War II.  The Atlantic Ocean is in the background.

The B-25J aircraft in the painting was built in 1944 in Kansas City, Kansas and would be manned by a crew of six airman – a pilot, co-pilot, bombardier, top turret gunner, waist gunner and tail gunner. On a typical mission, Panchito would be loaded with six 500 pound bombs. The B-25 was produced in greater numbers (9,816) than any other American twin-engine combat aircraft. The B-25 achieved worldwide fame on April 18 1942 when sixteen bombers under the command of Lt Colonel James Doolittle were launched from the USS Hornet and attacked five Japanese cities in a daring raid that helped to avenge the December 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and demonstrate the strength of American air power.

The original Panchito flew missions as part of a bomb group stationed in the Central Pacific. In August 1945, Panchito was scheduled to fly its 13th bombing run over Japan when news of the Japanese surrender caused all missions to be cancelled. Along with other B-25’s in the group, Panchito was flown to Manilla and later cut up as scrap steel.

The Panchito in this painting was delivered too late to see action during World War II and ultimately was assigned to an Air Training Command. In 1955, the aircraft was converted to a new configuration and served with Air National Guard units until being retired in 1958. It was then made available for purchase. Subsequently, this plane was sold to successive civilian owners and used for fire control in Arizona as well as an orange grove sprayer in Florida.

In 1986, after the aircraft was acquired, Tom Reilly Vintage Aircraft restored this plane to its original WWII condition in Kissimmee Florida, as “Panchito” – the B25J S/N 43-28147 that served with the 7th Air Force, 41st Bomb Group, 396 Bomb Squadron. Under this new ownership, Panchito was flown in many airshows such as the 50th anniversary tribute to the Doolittle Raid, which took place in 1992.

In 1997, Tom Reilly sold Panchito to Larry Kelley and the aircraft was relocated to the Coastal Delaware Airport outside of Georgetown. Panchito can be viewed at the Delaware Aviation Museum and continues to participate in airshows such as one held in 2020 to honor the Sussex County medical personnel fighting daily to contain COVID-19 and treat its victims. It is one of only thirty-six B-25’s still flying worldwide.